GLOBAL banknote printer De La Rue has named its new chief executive.

Starting from January 1, Tim Cobbold will in charge of leading the troubled Basingstoke headquartered company into a brighter new year.

Among his first jobs will be to restore shareholder |confidence in De La Rue and tackle bid interest from French rival Oberthur Technologies.

De La Rue saw its shares tumble after production problems, where it is claimed that some employees falsified paper specification test certificates at its Overton plant, in July – leading to the resignation of its then chief executive James Hussey.

Bringing with him more than 20 years of international management experience in manufacturing industries, Mr Cobbold said: “De La Rue has a long-established reputation as a global leader in an industry with unique characteristics.

“I look forward, with the rest of the board, to demonstrating De La Rue’s fundamental value by building on its core strengths as an independent company, and growing value for its shareholders.

“I look forward to working with the experienced team at De La Rue to strengthening the business and delivering on its potential as the industry leader.”

Mr Cobbold has spent the last three years at Southampton Airport-based secure power firm Chloride, which was recently taken over by America’s Emerson Electric.

De La Rue chairman Nicholas Brookes said: “We are delighted that Tim will be joining De La Rue as chief executive.

“There is no doubt about the regard in which Tim is held. His wealth of experience, including of international business at the most senior level, will be invaluable to De La Rue both in the short term as we work to resolve current uncertainties and in the longer term as we continue to build our global brand and international customer base.”

De La Rue’s shares fell more than 35 per cent this year, but recently rallied after Oberthur Technologies offered £895m for the company at the beginning of December. De La Rue has rejected the bid as “highly opportunistic.”